Pit

Pit In the A. V. this word appears with a figurative as well as a literal meaning. It passes from the facts that belong to the outward aspect of Palestine and its cities to states or regions of the spiritual world. With this power it is used to represent several Hebrew and Greek words, and the starting-point which the literal meaning presents for the spiritual is, in each case, a subject of some interest.

1. Of these bor, בּוֹר (root בָּאִר, cognate בּאֵר, beer, a well), occurs most frequently, and means a deep hole or pit, dug in the first instance for a well, or a cistern hewn or cut in stone, a reservoir, which the Orientals are in the habit of preparing in those regions where there are few or no springs, for the purpose of preserving rain-water for travellers and cattle. These cisterns and trenches are often without water, no supply being obtainable for them except from the rain. In old decayed cisterns the water leaks out, or becomes slimy (Jeremiah 2; 13). Such cisterns or pits, when without water, were often used in the East apparently for three purposes:

(1) As a place of sepulture (Psalms 28:1; 30:4; Isaiah 38:18), hence יוֹרדֵי בוֹר, “they that go down to the pit"-a phrase of frequent occurrence, employed sometimes to denote dying without hope, but commonly a simple going down to the place of the dead (see Gesen. Lex. s.v.); also, “the graves set in the sides of the pit” (Exodus 32:23), the recesses cut out for purposes of burial; or they might be the natural fissures in the rocks, abounding in all limestone formations, of which the rocks of Syria and Palestine chiefly consist.

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Author: McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia

Keywords: Pit

Bible reference(s): 1 Samuel 3:21, 2 Samuel 17:9, 2 Samuel 18:17, Ecclesiastes 10:8, Exodus 12:29, Exodus 32:23, Ezekiel 31:14, Ezekiel 32:18, Genesis 14:10, Genesis 37:22, Isaiah 24:22, Isaiah 30:14, Isaiah 38:18, Isaiah 51:14, Jeremiah 14:3, Jeremiah 18:20, Jeremiah 2:6, Jeremiah 37:16, Jeremiah 38:4, Jeremiah 48:43, Job 17:16, Job 28:28, Job 33:18, Lamentations 4:20, Luke 6:39, Matthew 12:11, Matthew 15:14, Numbers 16:30, Proverbs 20:14, Proverbs 23:27, Proverbs 28:10, Psalms 107:20, Psalms 119:85, Psalms 140:10, Psalms 143:7, Psalms 28:1, Psalms 30:4, Psalms 35:7, Psalms 40:2, Psalms 55:23, Psalms 57:6, Psalms 69:15, Psalms 9:16, Revelation 20:1, Revelation 9:1, Zechariah 9:11

Source: John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.

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